High Speed Machining of Aluminum 7075-T6

This paper presents the results of analytical and experimental study on the high-speed machining of the commonly used materials in the aerospace industry, namely 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. To isolate the effect of machining, a single insert, fly cutting is used to investigate the effects of machining parameters on cutting forces, chip morphology and surface integrity of the workpiece machined with carbide and diamond inserts. It is shown that a high cutting speed leads to a high chip flow angle, very low thrust forces and a high shear angle while producing a thinner chip. Authors: Yung C. Shin, Hongqi Li, Balkrishna Rao, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN.